Tumble Loaded Ammo?

[Meangun]

Might have been covered b4. What is the general opinion on tumbling loaded ammo?

I want to tumble some loaded ammo for about 10 minutes just to get the excess dillon lube odd of the cases. Is this ok to do or will I be hurting something in the long run? TIA.

[ihatepickles]

If you load hollow point ammo, you'll regret tumbling it - lots of tumbling media caught in the cavity.

I've read several threads on this subject (if you search you'll find them) and the consensus is that it's OK to tumble the ammo. I use Hornady One-Shot for lube and don't need to clean the cases afterwards as the One-Shot doesn't gum up my guns or magazines.

[Mick]

If you load hollow point ammo, you'll regret tumbling it - lots of tumbling media caught in the cavity.

I've read several threads on this subject (if you search you'll find them) and the consensus is that it's OK to tumble the ammo. I use Hornady One-Shot for lube and don't need to clean the cases afterwards as the One-Shot doesn't gum up my guns or magazines.

I still use Dillon's lube so I have to tumble after reloading but my ammo is bright and clean. I tumble for no more than 15 minutes. I do tumble the .40 Montana Gold HPs when I load them but like he says you'll regret tumbling the good factory HPs. I have seen one kernel of cob media lock up an open gun that was running a 9# recoil spring. I tumble lead, moly coated, and FMJs w/o any problems...

[XRe]

I tumble loaded rounds, w/ JHPs in Supercomp. The other guys are right, you do get some media in the HP nose. However, I put all the rounds in 100 round boxes, and bang the bottom of the box firmly on a table once or twice, and the majority of that ends up in the bottom of the box. What's left seems to stay in the HP nose nicely...

ETA - the Hornady HAPs I'd been running came with tumbling media in the HP cavities...

Edited February 22, 2007 by XRe

[Albert]

I just took a beginning NRA reloading class and they were very quick to point out how dangerous and bad it is to tumble finished media. In the same class they also mentioned not to clean the brass casings with any amonia(sp?) based cleaners.

It was interesting that when the instructor said that tumbling brass was a no no that all the reasons he mentioned were the same ones argued on this forum identifying these possible problems like the powder's potential to change while being shaken and the potential for the tumbling to set off a primer. Both reasons appear to be stated as myths as many on this forum including myself tumble media to remove excess lube.

But to each his own. Don't do it if you don't feel comfortable. If something bad does happen take responsibility in knowing there were risks to begin with.

[XRe]

I'll just point out that factory ammo arrives to you in bright shiny condition for a reason....

[Carlos]

I just took a beginning NRA reloading class and they were very quick to point out how dangerous and bad it is to tumble finished media. In the same class they also mentioned not to clean the brass casings with any amonia(sp?) based cleaners.

It was interesting that when the instructor said that tumbling brass was a no no that all the reasons he mentioned were the same ones argued on this forum identifying these possible problems like the powder's potential to change while being shaken and the potential for the tumbling to set off a primer. Both reasons appear to be stated as myths as many on this forum including myself tumble media to remove excess lube.

But to each his own. Don't do it if you don't feel comfortable. If something bad does happen take responsibility in knowing there were risks to begin with.

It is unfortunate that they were teaching this as a universal truth when in fact it is not a problem with the pistol ammo we commonly use. I do not reload for rifle - though I think that the jury is still out on that too.

[Meangun]

The raeson I want to tuble is because I am using lube for my high volume reloading cartridges. My 9mm are flat points so the concern about setting off a primer is not great. In trying to get as much use out of my carbide dies I figured I would use libe on these. I put about 200 cases in a zip lock, give it about 4-5 pumps and then shake the bag up. i then let them air dry for about an hour or two. Do you think I'm using to much Dillon lube?

[Putty]

I think Flex posted something about this that I have used quite a bit, especially before formal matches. Take cloth (i use swiffer inserts), spray with brake cleaner and roll the bullets betwixt the two pieces of cloth. I use the green can NAPA stuff.

[Mick]

The raeson I want to tuble is because I am using lube for my high volume reloading cartridges. My 9mm are flat points so the concern about setting off a primer is not great. In trying to get as much use out of my carbide dies I figured I would use libe on these. I put about 200 cases in a zip lock, give it about 4-5 pumps and then shake the bag up. i then let them air dry for about an hour or two. Do you think I'm using to much Dillon lube?

Maybe so.

I lay out about 300-500 cases in a cardboard box top and let them lay flat (for additional inspection) and give it maybe 3 pumps from the Dillon bottle. Let them dry for 10 minutes or so to keep the gunk off the 1050 and they save allot of wear and tear on my arm especially if they came from the open bolt SMG or Glocks.

OBTW my Dillon factory carbide sizer dies in 45. 9, and 38 Super came with the press roughly 20 years ago when the 1050 first came out. I've been lube sizing for for Super for a long time and for the .40 for about 7-8 years..The dies are still running strong.

[Chuck Merriam]

Hornady One Shot Lube = no need to retumble. My .02 and I have never had any problems with my ammo....chambering, firing, etc.

I have a buddy who retumble because of the Dillon lube...man that stuff must be nasty. The One Shot just quickly air dries and leaves very little stuff on the finished case after it makes the trip round the machine.

[Mick]

Hornady One Shot Lube = no need to retumble. My .02 and I have never had any problems with my ammo....chambering, firing, etc.

I have a buddy who retumble because of the Dillon lube...man that stuff must be nasty. The One Shot just quickly air dries and leaves very little stuff on the finished case after it makes the trip round the machine.

If you use as much as he was it can be real nasty!

With brass fired in your own SV/STI chamber and minimal Dillon lube it's not bad at all.

I could likely get by w/o tumbling...

Hornady One Shot Lube = no need to retumble. My .02 and I have never had any problems with my ammo....chambering, firing, etc.

I have a buddy who retumble because of the Dillon lube...man that stuff must be nasty. The One Shot just quickly air dries and leaves very little stuff on the finished case after it makes the trip round the machine.

If you use as much as he was it can be real nasty!

With brass fired in your own SV/STI chamber and minimal Dillon lube it's not bad at all.

I could likely get by w/o tumbling...

Does that padlock really work??

[DougCarden]

I have friends that reload and sell rifle rounds, they dont even know how many of tens of thousands they have reloaded......They tumble them for 10min to get the Dillon lube off of them in corncob media with some paint thinner in with it. Nice and shiny and no round has ever gone off.....

I myself have been tumbling the lube off of my Dillon lube loaded rounds for almost 10yrs.....no problem except now I use Walnut media with JHPS.......

This is what the factories do so the ammo is nice and shiny....

I used to put cases into an old bullet box, pump some lube in there, shake the box, then load. I now put them flat on an old cookie sheet, give it a couple of pumps, move them around on the sheet, then put them in a box and wait to put in the case feeder. I dont want the possibility of getting lube into the case mouth and mixing with the powder. It adds a step or two to the ammo making process, but I load all my ammo as match ammo, so I dont mind.....

Good luck,

DougC

[shootingchef]

if your using a carbide die, then why lube? I tumble my bullets when my club lets me reload, but thats a different story.

[XRe]

Even w/ a carbide die, lubing tends to greatly reduce the amount of force required to resize the case. Depending on the cartridge, you may notice that to a greater or lesser extent. A case that's easier to resize equals a press that's smoother and easier to operate - which means more consistent ammo, and higher volume....

I believe the concerns about tumbling loaded rounds is that the powder inside the case may suffer from mechanical damage, and so may burn at a different rate than originally constructed. This could be dangerous. However, it doesn't appear that 10 minutes in a tumbler makes any difference. In fact, my compressed SuperComp loads have accidentally ridden around for a couple of hours, and I've had no issues... Rifle rounds w/ lots of air space might notice more of an effect, but still - the ammo manufacturers tumble their loaded rounds, as well, so....

[DougCarden]

Dave, Ditto +1

I did a highly scientific test in which I forgot and left a batch in the tumbler overnight, 8+ hours. I had the other half of the batch out. I shot them for groups, chronoed, checked everything I could and gosh darn it, there was no problem with the either batch of tumbled rounds.....

Now I will not sit here and say that it couldnt, but in my limited experience it didnt, and hasnt caused any problems with my ammo for a long time.....

FWIW...

DougC

<not some pointy headed guy in a lab coat theorizing stuff that could happen...>

[slavex]

I too have left rounds overnight, in the tumbler. 9mm, .40, .45, .308 you name it. never had any problems with pressure, difference in velocity or accuracy. I'm not saying you should leave them that long, but long enough to remove lube is no big deal.

[ima45dv8]

I use One-Shot when I have it available, but used the Dillon pump spray lube once when it was all I had. Never tumbled or wiped off the loaded rounds after using the Dillon lube, and they caused no problems at all in my mags or my gun(s).

I'm not sure why we would want to take the lube off?

I actually like the slight residue left from the lube. It makes the rounds feel a little slick when I roll them between my fingers. I've seen a lot of shooters deliberately lube their rounds just before loading their mags, but I don't have to.

[XRe]

I'm not sure why we would want to take the lube off?

OneShot feels sticky to me - its slick under pressure, of course, but stuff seems to stick to it.... But, that's not the main reason, for me. The lube gets on my hands, and other junk sticks to that. My hands get messy enough while shooting, I don't need to add to it!!

But, that same junk can stick to my ammo, and that's not a good thing....

[ima45dv8]

I'm not sure why we would want to take the lube off?

OneShot feels sticky to me - its slick under pressure, of course, but stuff seems to stick to it.... But, that's not the main reason, for me. The lube gets on my hands, and other junk sticks to that. My hands get messy enough while shooting, I don't need to add to it!!

But, that same junk can stick to my ammo, and that's not a good thing....

I see your point. If I still lived in the Dust Bowl of SW Oklahoma, I'd probably do everything I could to get the lube off, too.

[XRe]

I see your point. If I still lived in the Dust Bowl of SW Oklahoma, I'd probably do everything I could to get the lube off, too.

I did the same thing when I lived in Atlanta... for the same reasons...

[Run n Gun]

I use One-Shot when I have it available, but used the Dillon pump spray lube once when it was all I had. Never tumbled or wiped off the loaded rounds after using the Dillon lube, and they caused no problems at all in my mags or my gun(s).

I'm not sure why we would want to take the lube off?

I actually like the slight residue left from the lube. It makes the rounds feel a little slick when I roll them between my fingers. I've seen a lot of shooters deliberately lube their rounds just before loading their mags, but I don't have to.

Dave,

If your loaded ammo feels sticky using One Shot, then you're using WAY to much. I use it on all of my pistol and 223 loads, and a little bit goes a LONG way..

Ed

[RacerX1166]

I've been tumbling loaded ammo for years with no issue. I recently had to deal with what to do when I went Open and started shooting JHP bullets. Yep, had a ton of media in the cavities and I'm pretty sure it stopped my gun a few times.

My resolution was to go to Petsmart and find the largest grind of corncob they had. I think it's for rabbits and whatnot but it's big and doesn't stay in the cavity. A little mineral spirits in with the big media for 10 minutes and it's clean, shiny, and not goopy.

[XRe]

you're using WAY to much.

Define "way too much".... One man's "way too much" is another man's.... just about right. I use the amount that consistently allows me to operate the press smoothly. Further, when the cans are full, they tend to spray in a stream only (have to be careful to get a spray for a few loading sessions until the pressure comes down in the can) - tough to control a stream, so you get too much on them in some cases.

All that said - I appear to have a mis-match between corncob size and the Zero 125gr JHPs I'm shooting, now. I have to be more dilligent about banging the ammo in a box to get the excess corn cob out - yesterday, I didn't do that step, and ended up with some corn cob junk in my gun, so... Where the HAPs would get junk trapped in them - and it would stay put... The Zeros apparently let it go - at least they respond to the "bang the ammo box on the table" treatment...

[David Sinko]

I NEVER lube my pistol brass before I load it with the carbide sizing die, and lately my elbow has been starting to hurt. It actually bothers me most when I sit and use the 550 with the ball handle. It doesn't seem to bother me when I stand and use the 650 with the roller handle. Can lubing straight wall pistol cases make that much of a difference? It seems the answer to that just might be yes.

Dave Sinko